Rockville Shrinks Shady Grove Metro Annexation to 66.4 Acres Ahead of County, City Hearings

The City of Rockville has cut its proposed annexation of the Shady Grove Metro station from 107.9 acres to about 66.4 acres. It keeps the station, rail yard and surface lot on the west side of Metro’s property, plus the CSX railroad right-of-way, and drops the east side with its two parking garages. The Montgomery County Planning Board holds a public hearing on the annexation Thursday, Oct. 29, and the Rockville Mayor and Council hold theirs Monday, Nov. 16.

The Mayor and Council introduced the 107.9-acre version on Oct. 23, 2023, according to the city’s annexation plan, and MoCo Show covered it in March, April and May 2025. The council took up motions Sept. 28 to adopt the revised plan and set the hearing date, according to the meeting video; the minutes, which will record the vote, are on the council’s Oct. 26 agenda for approval.

Why the annexation got smaller

A May 2025 Rockville staff report estimated the full property would need six more police officers, with a first-year cost of about $1,015,000, and the west side alone would need four, at about $676,700. A consultant’s fiscal analysis, assuming six officers, projected a positive fiscal impact once development is underway if police are treated as a citywide cost, but not enough revenue to cover them over 25 years if they are charged to the annexation area alone.

Rockville’s Sept. 28 staff report says that after a May 2025 work session the council “determined that the cost to provide public services, primarily police services, did not justify moving forward with the annexation at that time.” On April 20, 2026, the council told staff to proceed with the west side only. The April staff report said WMATA has no near-term plans for the east side, a stream crosses it, its garages could be costly to relocate or redevelop, and Rockville police said crime rates are higher in garages.

The current plan says the city police department is fully staffed at 76 sworn officers, “projects the capacity” to handle the west side and will assess future calls for service to decide whether more officers are needed. Rockville police would replace Montgomery County police as the primary responder; fire and rescue would stay with the county.

What is in the 66.4 acres

Besides the station and rail yard, the plan lists a KinderCare day care center at 15910 Somerville Drive that Montgomery County leases from WMATA. About 15 acres is developable, mostly the surface lot, bus loop and Kiss & Ride. The rail yard sits next to the county’s Shady Grove Transfer Station, where, as we reported Oct. 14, Rockville has objected to county options that would move trash out by truck instead of rail.

WMATA and CSX Transportation own the land. The Sept. 28 staff report cites a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that a city may start annexing tax-exempt land, such as WMATA’s, without the owner’s consent. CSX’s taxable right-of-way required consent, which CSX gave in a July 6, 2023 letter saying it had “no objection” as long as its operations are not affected.

Taller buildings than the county zone allows

Rockville proposes to zone the land MXTD-235, a mixed-use transit zone that the plan says allows 235 feet by right, plus a 100-foot bonus “for the provision of affordable housing above the minimum required by code.” The plan says the county’s current zone, CR 2.25 C1.0 R1.75 H-200, offers 200 feet by right. The county measures density by floor-area ratio; the plan says Rockville “does not use the FAR methodology for calculating development potential.”

Under Local Government Article Section 4-416, for five years after an annexation the city may not allow development for “land uses substantially different” from the county zoning, or at “a substantially higher density, not exceeding 50%,” without the County Council’s express approval. The Rockville documents we reviewed do not say whether MXTD-235 would need that approval.

The county’s Shady Grove Minor Master Plan Amendment, approved by the County Council in April 2021, recommended rezoning the Metro property for high-intensity mixed use with public benefits including “the maximum percentage of affordable housing” and a civic green of at least one acre. It requires at least 15% moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs) on publicly owned land and says WMATA should be encouraged to provide up to 25%.

No tax revenue yet

The land would stay tax-exempt until developed, and the plan says no joint development application with WMATA is planned yet. WMATA told Rockville that a 2021 study found the site not feasible to develop because replacement transit facilities would cost too much, but that it plans to advance studies of the west side and aims to “begin the process of solicitation by 2032.” Rockville staff called the lack of near-term revenue a potential disadvantage and cited future tax base and a county-funded bus rapid transit station on the west side as advantages.

How to weigh in

• Montgomery County Planning Board, Thursday, Oct. 29: The annexation is Item 11 in the afternoon session of the agenda, with no set time, listed as a public hearing with a staff recommendation of approval. No staff report was posted as of Oct. 22. The agenda describes the petition as “including both sides of the Metro Station and the maintenance yard,” which does not match Rockville’s revised boundary. Sign up to testify by noon Tuesday, Oct. 27.
• Rockville Mayor and Council, Monday, Nov. 16: The city’s hearing notice sets the hearing for 6:30 p.m. “or as soon thereafter as it may be heard,” at City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave., and online; the draft hearing resolution in the Sept. 28 agenda packet said 7:00 p.m. Sign up to speak, or send written testimony, by 10 a.m. that day.
• Dec. 7: City staff’s schedule has the council adopting the annexation resolution and taking up the zoning map change, with the annexation taking effect 45 days later, in mid-January 2027.

Still unanswered

• What is the basis for Montgomery Planning staff’s recommendation of approval, and are there conditions? Does the county consider MXTD-235 to need County Council approval under the five-year rule?
• What MPDU share would Rockville require on this site, compared with the county plan’s 15% minimum and 25% goal?
• Does WMATA support the annexation?
• How much does Rockville now expect police service to the west side to cost each year?

We have not yet put these questions to the City of Rockville, Montgomery Planning or WMATA; this story will be updated with any response.

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